Essential Management Skills

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Table of Contents

Planning
Leadership
Organization
Control
References

Planning

Planning is an important aspect of organizational management. In management, the word planning is used to refer to the process of setting specific goals and objectives that specific groups of an organization have to achieve by putting effort in the process of their performing their roles and duties (Dessler, 2004). In the process of planning, it is the management that comes up with specific goals and objectives.

These goals and objectives have to be in line with the mission and vision statements of the organization. In addition, the management also comes up with specific strategies and methods that will be used to achieve the set goals and objectives. Finally, the process of planning also has to include a means through which the level of progress will be measured.

This is essential as it ensures that an organization is working towards achieving the set goals and objectives that it has set. If the progress is not as expected, corrective measures should be put in place to ensure that the goals and objectives are realised.

According to the study conducted by Peter et al (2009), it is essential to involve employees in the process of planning. This is because they are part and parcel of the organization. As a result, it is essential for them to fully understand the nature and extent of all operations that the organization is involved in.

Involving employees in the process of planning also ensures that they understand the goals and objectives of the organization, their importance, means through which they can be achieved, the roles that they have to play, the expected outcomes and most importantly, what needs to be done and how it should be done (Dessler, 2004).

Involving employees in the process of planning is also essential since the management can get their point of view. Employees are the ones who work on the ground.

They are therefore the individuals who are in the best position of formulating strategies and coming up with ideas of achieving the goals and objectives of the organization. Involving the employees in the process of planning also boosts their morale. This in turn increases their productivity.

Planning is a programme that is used to influence the future status of an organization. A plan can be used to achieve short-term and long-term goals and objectives of an organization. A plan utilizes the resources and capabilities that an organization has and maximizes their contribution to achieving a desirable state of the organization.

It is through planning that an organization attains a competitive advantage over its rivals, grows, develops and becomes sustainable in the long run (Dessler, 2004). It has been said that a well designed plan is the mid-way of attaining the goals and objectives of an organization (Dessler, 2004). Planning thus ensures that the acts of an organization are based on facts rather than speculation.

There are several essential steps that should be involved in the process of planning. First, the management should establish specific goals and objectives that have to be achieved within a specified time period. These objectives should be stated in qualitative or quantitative terms depending on the nature of the organization and what it wants to achieve.

These goals and objectives should be simple, measurable, attainable, realistic and achievable within a specific time period (Peter et al, 2009). The second step is to establish the premise of planning. In this step, the management determines the possible factors that may hinder the organization from achieving the set goals and objectives.

Here, the management takes a careful look at its operations, resources and capabilities and tries to identify the weaknesses and threats that it may face internally or externally. With this information, the management comes up with means of solving and avoiding these problems. The organization also comes up with intermediate plans.

These are a number of short-term plans that will act as a stepping stone of achieving the long-term plan. Finally, the organization chooses a specific course of action, implements it and appraises its effectiveness. This is achieved by collecting feedback information from various departments. Here, the management will be able to know whether the plan is in course or has deviated.

IKEA is the worlds leading manufacturer and retailer of furniture. The organization has implemented a strategic plan that has helped it to be sustainable in the furniture industry. To ensure that the operations of the company are effective and efficient, the company has maintained a stable organization structure and culture. The managerial strategy of IKEA is formal, non-hierarchical and based on teamwork (Peter et al, 2009).

This ensures that all the employees have a duty of care and respect for one another. As a result, employees at IKEA do not have titles or get special privileges. There is also effective communication among the employees. This ensures that the correct information if passed from one employee or department to the other. As a result, the efficiency of operations within the organization is maintained (Gofman and Mets, 2010).

IKEA also believes in recruiting young employees who are creative and innovative (Egan, 2000). This not only reduces expenditure on salaries but also ensures that the company remains the best in terms of creativity and innovation (Jugger, 2009).

The future goal of the company is to expand its operations into many more countries. It is projected that IKEA will be opening 20-25 stores annually in the near future (Schein, 2005). This will guarantee the sustainability of the company in the long run.

Leadership

Leadership is the role played by an individual or a group of individuals in motivating and giving directions to other members of staff so that they can achieve the goals and objectives that have been set by the organization (Weick, 2005). It is a social process where an individual or a group of individuals aid or support other people below them in order to achieve a common goal or objective.

Leadership is the concept that has been least understood the whole of mankind’s civilization. Many researchers have tried to come up with concepts and theories to explain this phenomenon. It is due to this fact that several myths about leadership have been advanced. There is a myth that leadership is inborn. According to this myth, there are those individuals who are born with leadership qualities.

As a result, they are able to influence and direct other individuals on the right path. Another myth is that leadership is the process of possessing power over others. Such individuals therefore have the capability of controlling the actions of others in a way that they feel is best. Finally, there is a myth that leadership is the process of instilling positive directions in people.

According to this myth, leaders are individuals who are equipped with knowledge and interpersonal skills. They are able to analyze a situation and come with measures and strategies that will lead to a better outcome. Management normally advocates for this third myth of leadership (Dessler, 2004).

An organization can adopt different styles of leadership. There is the autocratic leadership style where leadership is concentrated on the leader. He is the one who makes all the decisions for the organization.

Such a leadership style is seen by many scholars to be oppressive especially on employees who are on the lower level of management. An organization can also have decentralized leadership. Here, leadership is spread over the different departments of the organization. However, there is an ultimate body that all the departmental leaders have to report to.

Strong leadership is essential for the success of any organisation. Therefore, for organisations to be profitable and sustainable in the long run, they need to have a good leadership model and a strong leader to guide them (Koestenbaum, 2002). This can be achieved by having a personal philosophy of leadership for excellence by the leaders of these organisations.

Leaders should be innovative while facing challenges, achieve the objectives and missions of the organization, enforce team work to his staff and take risks to gain rewards (Kouzes and Posner, 2007). These are the qualities required by leaders to ensure that their organisations are stable and sustainable.

Martha Steward Living Omnimedia (MSO) is an organization that is involved in a variety of activities that aim at improving the lives of women and their families in the United States. MSO had a concrete leadership during its inception and the years that followed. The company has a team of consultants and advisors all of who were lawyers.

These include individuals such as Allen Grubman, Sharon Patrick and Charlotte Beers (Kouzes and Posner, 2007). With their experience coupled with their negotiation capabilities, they have been able to make many deals that led to the growth of the company. Through their efforts, they were able to negotiate a deal with Time, Inc. to join MSO.

The publicity that Time Inc. had was essential for the early success of MSO. As a result of the efficiency of leadership that was being experienced during this period, the company grew at a fast rate. In addition, the employees were motivated to work for the company.

They were proud to be associated with the brand. Due to this fact, they worked hard to ensure that the quality of their goods and services is maintained at a high level. They also enjoyed a conducive working environment that was free of crisis and criticism.

Organization

For an organization to be successful in the short run and in the long run, it must have a strong organization structure and culture. Organizational structure is a framework which an organization uses to run its operations (Wether and Chandler, 2006).

It entails the ways and means through which an organization arranges its authority lines, communication, roles, duties and responsibilities of individuals and departments and how all these are incorporated into a single unit.

Different organizations choose different organizational structures. The choice of an organization structure depends on the goals and objectives which the organization wants to achieve in the short run and in the long run. Generally there are two forms of organization structures. There is a centralized form of organization structure and a decentralized form of organization structure (Dessler, 2004).

In centralized organization structure, all the power of the organization is concentrated on the top managerial levels. Due to the amount of power they have, the top management level exercises tight control over the affair of all the divisions or the departments which constitute the organization.

On the other hand, power in decentralized organization structure is distributed among all the departments or divisions of the organization who work in unity to achieve the goals and objectives of the firm.

Apple Inc. for example, has a decentralized form of organization structure (Wether and Chandler, 2006). The organization is headed by a Chief Executive Officer. This is the position that Steve Jobs held until his death. Below the CEO, there are 10 senior vice presidents who head different departments.

Marketing, Industrial design, CFO, Software engineering and hardware engineering are some of the departments that Apple Inc. has. Each one of these departments is independent. However, their specific goals and objectives are always in line with the overall goals, objectives, mission and vision of the organization.

In every department, employees work together as a team (Wether and Chandler, 2006). Different teams perform different tasks which the organization is involved in.

Through teamwork, these different groups work together to ensure that the goals and objectives which have been set up by the organization. This gives different teams an opportunity to make decisions concerning their operations increasing their loyalty to the firm and at the same time it fosters ownership.

Organization culture is also an important aspect of an organization (Dessler, 2004). Organization culture plays a critical role in determining what an organization is and the relationship that it has with its stakeholders. In management, organization culture is a term that is used to refer to the attitude, beliefs, psychology and behaviour that an organization believes is best suited to follow in order to accomplish its goals (Schein, 2005).

It is through this culture that an organization develops the means through which it deals with the members of staff, stakeholders and other interested parties in general (Black, 2003). The employees at Apple Inc. have an organization culture that aims at ensuring consumer satisfaction.

To achieve this, these employees have good public relations skills, have respects among themselves and to their stakeholders and most importantly, they are loyal to the organization. This has made Apple Inc. to have a competitive advantage over its rivals.

Control

Control is also another essential factor in the process of management. It is through control than the operations and activities of an organization are conducted in the manner in which they were designed. Traditionally, organizations used to control their organizations with the use of quantitative methods. This was achieved through the use of budgets, standard costs and marketing quotas (Black, 2003).

Due to this fact, control was viewed as a function of the accounting system of an organization. If the operations of an organization deviated from its budget, the management would investigate the causes of these problems and put corrective measures in place to restore the expected performance.

However, at the present moment, most organizations use a mix of qualitative and quantitative measures as a means of control. Feedbacks from employees and customers have, for example, been used to check the performance of an organization.

It is from these feedbacks that an organization knows its strengths and weaknesses. This information is crucial as it improves the overall performance of an organization. In addition, organizations have the human resource department that check the conduct and behaviour of employees.

To ensure that there is a smooth running of the organization, Nike Corporation has to monitor and control all its operations. To achieve this, the company has internal and external control systems that ensure that all the operations that are conducted at the company are in accordance to the set rules, regulations and standards.

At the same time, the company has specific goals and objectives that have to be achieved within specified time periods. The company also has a budget that controls its revenue and expenditure. It also has copyrights for its products and logos. This protects their brands and properties from unfair competition and counterfeits.

References

Black, R. (2003) Organizational Culture: Creating the Influence Needed for Strategic Success. London: Penguin Books

Dessler, G. (2004) Management: principles and practices for tomorrow’s leaders. New York: Prentice Hall

Egan, J. (2000) Relationship Marketing. ã Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall

Gofman, A. and Mets,T. (2010) Consumer Behavior. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 27 (2), 157–168.

Jugger, S. (2009) The Power of Consumers. Admap Magazine, 14 (2), 51-55.

Koestenbaum, P. (2002) Leadership: The inner side of greatness, a philosophy for leaders. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Kouzes, J., and Posner, B. (2007) Leadership challenge. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Peter. J.P., Olsen. J.C. and Grunet. K.G. (2009) Consumer Behaviour and Marketing Strategy. Boston: Mcgraw-Hill international.

Schein, E.H. (2005) Organization Culture and Leadership. New York: Jossey-Bass

Weick, K. E. (2005) Sensemaking in Organizations. Organization Science, 2 (1), 405- 420.

Wether, W and Chandler, D. (2006) Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Stakeholders in a Global Environment. Miami.Sage

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